1. Technical Field
This invention relates to exercise equipment and, more particularly, to an exercise apparatus for assisting a user to lose weight and tone muscles.
2. Prior Art
A variety of activities and sports require a rotary motion in a person's total body. In everyday activities, a person does not generally use or exercise these muscles. A variety of exercise devices have been introduced in the prior art for conditioning those muscles used in twisting or turning the body. While these devices have been produced for this general purpose, they generally suffer from one or more deficiencies that do not make them acceptable for use substantially anywhere by the average person.
For example, some such devices are designed so that the subject must assume an unnatural position when using them, which limits their effectiveness and can even cause physical injury. In other available devices permanent installation is required, a feature unacceptable in many homes and offices, and the devices are either non-adjustable, or can be adjusted only by a fairly complicated arrangement. In addition, some presently available devices are ungainly in appearance, and are relatively expensive to purchase.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,701 to Good discloses a platform with a vertically mounted, adjustable rotary resistance unit thereon, to which the lower end of the center leg of a vertically disposed T-shaped handle is connected. A subject standing on the platform grips the cross bars of the handle, and rotates the handle back and forth against the force of the resistance unit, thereby exercising selected body muscles. A torque frictional resistance is developed by the resistance unit against the twisting of the center leg by a user acting on the cross bar. The resistance unit has an adjustable clamp that grips a rotor on the lower end of the center leg to vary the frictional resistance to the rotation of the rotor. An anchored vertical bar may be used to lockingly engage the lower most portion of the T-shaped handle so as to offer resistance to twisting of the T-shaped handle. An adjustable collar may be provided on the vertical bar to vary the amount of torque necessary to twist the vertical bar. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not enable a user to complete exercises while comfortably seated in front of the television.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,727 to Dehan discloses a gymnastic apparatus designed to strengthen the muscles of the abdomen at waist level, those located in the small of the back and in the buttocks and to exercise and maintain all of the rest of the body's muscles. The apparatus includes a base, a bar which can be moved in any direction, one of whose ends is fitted with a sleeve, and whose other end is connected to the base by means of a connection mechanism. The connection mechanism includes a ball holding the end of the bar which is housed in a tube whose upper end is shaped to match the upper end of the ball, with the lower end of the tube being secured to the base. Said ball can move in all directions in response to movement imparted to the ball, within a space limited by the upper end of the tube and by a part forming a seat for the ball mounted on the base by means of an adjustment mechanism making it possible to adjust friction of the ball. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not enable a user to effectively exercise while seated in a comfortable chair.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,520 to Sieber discloses an exercise apparatus which includes a gripping or handle assembly which is grasped at each of its ends by a user's hands. The handle assembly is rotatably mounted on a support having a configuration selected so that when the ends of the handle assembly are grasped by the user, the user is in a position with his hands positioned above his shoulders. The handle is then rotated by the user pulling on one end of the assembly and then the other end, to pivot the handle assembly about a pivot point and stretch the various upper body muscles. Unfortunately, this prior art example is not designed for exercising both the upper and lower muscles of a user's body.
Accordingly, the present invention is disclosed in order to overcome the above noted shortcomings. The exercise apparatus is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, and designed for assisting a user to lose weight and tone muscles. The apparatus is simple to use, inexpensive, and designed for many years of repeated use.